YASEMİN ERGÜN Marmara UnıversıtyHealth Science FacultyDepartment of Nursıng Management

AYŞEGÜL YILDIRIM Marmara UnıversıtyHealth Science Faculty

Department of Health Management

26 Mart 2011 Copenhag - Denmark

Introduction

Studies show that there is lack of interaction betweenphysicians and nurses who work closely with each otheron the bed side.

Recent research findings have found a relationshipbetween collaboration and increased quality of care forpatients, increased nurse satisfaction, and decreased costof care.

In 1986, Knaus and et al, reported treatment andoutcomes in 5.030 patients in intensive care unitsand reported that differences in death rates relatedto interaction and communication betweenphysicians and nurses.

.

(Knaus, W. A., Draper E. A.,Wagner, D.P., and Zimmerman, J.E., "An Evaluation of Outcome From Intensive Care in MajorMedical Centers", Annals of Intenal Medicine 104 (1986): 410 – 418 ).

Aim of the study

This study aimed to investigate the levels of thecollaboration between physicians and nurses inintensive care units (ICU) of the university hospitals.

It was planned and performed as a prospective,descriptive, correlational study using self-reportinstruments.

Method of the study

The study sample of 134 physicians and 258 nurseswere randomly chosen from various critical careunits of 3 afflieted University hospitals in Istanbul .

The jefferson Scale of Attitudes Towards Physician-Nurse Collaboration (JSAPNC) was administered.

The Jefferson Scale of Attitudes Physician and NurseCollaboratıon Scale

The mean time of questionnaireadministration was approximately 4 minutes

The test - retest reliability was 0.75, andCronbach’s coefficient alpha was 0.71 forentire sample.

(Yıldırım et al. Turkish version ofthe Jefferson Scale of Attitudes Towards Physician- Nurse Collaboratıon: a

preliminary study. Contemp Nurse.2006 Oct;23(1):38-45)

Demografik data The sample consist of 134 physician and 258 nurses

from critical care units.

Nurses mean age were 29.4 ± 6

All nurses surveyed were female.

94% of the nurses (242) were graduated fromuniversity and 6% (16) were graduated from highschool nursing program.

Demographic features of Physicians

Among the 134 physicians surveyed were 91 (68%) males and 43 females (32%).

Physician mean age were 34.2±2

29% of physicians (39) are permanent staff and71% are residents (95).

Main Results

Collaboration mean scores of physicians and nursesin ICU were 55 ± 3.3; 56 ± 3 respectively.

There is not statistically significant differencesbetween nurses and physicians collaboration meanscore (p>0.05).

No gender and age difference was observed.

There is strong correlations between nurse andphysicians in ICU (r=0.92, p‹0.05).

There was no statistical difference in years of experience between physicians and nurses.

Results show that male physicians have higherscores than female physicians but it is not statistically significant (p>0.05).

The results indicated that both of groupsexpressed positive attitudes towardscollaboration.

Conclusions

Results showed that the physicians' attitudestoward collaboration became more positive inICU.

A possible explanation for the physicians'attitude toward collaboration with nurse mightbe the nurses' role in intensive care unit.

“As nurse and physicians,it is essential that we should

understand and tolerate our differences and foster our

mutual interest in caring for patient better than ever .”

References

1. Coeling,H.V., Cukr, P.L.," Communication Styles That PromotePerceptions of Collaboration, Quality, and Nurse Satisfaction" Journal ofNursing Care Quality, 14, 2 (2000): 63-74.

2. Knaus, W. A., Draper E. A.,Wagner, D.P., and Zimmerman, J.E., "AnEvaluation of Outcome From Intensive Care in Major Medical Centers",Annals of Intenal Medicine 104 (1986): 410 – 418.

3. Yıldırım et al. Turkish version ofthe Jefferson Scale of Attitudes TowardsPhysician- Nurse Collaboratıon: a preliminary study. ContempNurse.2006 Oct;23(1):38-45.

4. Yildirim, A., Ates, M., Akinci, F. et al. “Physician-Nurse Attitudes TowardCollaboration in Istanbul's Public Hospitals,” International Journal ofNursing Studies 42:4 (2005) pp. 429-437.

Thank you for your attention